You are here

"Guinea Pig 'B'" by R. Buckminster Fuller

Submitted by keerthin15 on Fri, 10/09/2015 - 5:30pm

These now-famous terms to conceive of a better world were coined by R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983). Philosopher, inventor, and one of the boldest innovators of the 20th century, his work provides a blueprint for humanity to live abundantly on "Spaceship Earth" without destroying it.

He even went so far as to whimsically label himself "Guinea Pig B, 'B' for Bucky" truly dedicating his life (from 1927 forward) to seeing what one man could do to benefit all humanity — what he termed a 50 year experiment, growing to 56 years.

When he began his "experiment," he stated that he had to expand his knowledge a great deal and unlearn a great deal more — feeling that unlearning was the most difficult discipline. It became a pursuit of rethinking everything he knew, incessantly, and saturating himself with information — "cosmically adequate" information — considering all the possiblities, paying attention to all the clues nature provides.

His 56 year experiment enabled him to understand in an unprecedented way the integrity of the universe and the "design" of humans' ability to access and utilize the principles and laws governing universe. His intent was to design "artifacts" making their use so simple, easy, and efficient that the old, unworkable ways would simply be abandoned by humanity, while encouraging everyone to do their own thinking. To be optimally effective he knew he must set a good example.

The results were extraordinary: 28 patents, 42 honarary Doctorates, and 28 books published. And Bucky did not even earn an undergraduate degree (he was kicked out of Harvard twice, essentially for not applying himself).

Guinea Pig B reflects the wisdom that earned him praise as the "Leonardo da Vinci of our age," and made him the "godfather" of our increasing environmental/ecological awareness and practice.